


A Long Ride For Us All

by bafflethemwithbullshit



Category: Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/F, F/M, I don't know which pairings I want yet but I'm open for suggestions, Mentions of Rape, SVU - Freeform, bau, descriptions of torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-04-08 23:32:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4325025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bafflethemwithbullshit/pseuds/bafflethemwithbullshit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When SVU gets a hard case, Dodds and the white shirts at 1PP think it's time to call in the folks of the BAU. Can two of the finest units in the country work together to catch the unsub? Or will the unsub outsmart them all?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Anastasia?

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know who I want to ship in this story but I'd love for you to comment or message me. I didn't really want to introduce any ships in the first couple of chapters because I'm trying to introduce the crime and the characters. Let me know what you think :)

"Whatta we got?" Nick greeted the uniformed officer as he and Rollins entered the five floor walk-up apartment.

"Katrina Hollister, 25, neighbor down the hall walking her dog, saw the door open and sent the pooch in to sniff around," the tall, brunette woman explained as she walked them through the apartment.

"Guess that explains the bloody paw prints," Amanda muttered, careful not to tread on any evidence on their way to the scene.

"Yeah, when she saw the blood on the dog, she called 9-1-1." the officer replied and stopped before a cracked door "Good luck in there," she said, before turning and walking away. Amanda and Nick shared a look before pushing on the wooden door to the master bedroom.

"Aww geez," Amanda said, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes momentarily at the horrific scene before them.

Nick averted his gaze, also taking a breath in order to look at the scene objectively, before looking over at Melinda next to the young woman lying on her stomach in front of her.

"Detectives," said Melinda grimly as she started to stand up "I hope you didn't eat breakfast,"

"I don't think the presence of food is gonna make a difference here, Doc," Nick replied, earning a grunt of agreement from the blonde detective next to him "Has she been moved at all?" he asked, taking a step towards the body on the floor.

Her hands were bound behind her back with metal wire, another wire running from around her ankles to around her neck so she's unable to move. Even with every muscle in her body relaxed, her body doesn't lay flat on her stomach. Her knees are bent behind her and her head is slightly off the floor. The wire had cut through skin and drops of blood lay on the floor underneath.

Her eyes are open and the once green irises are now white. There's no color, no detail. Her raven hair is matted, like it had been twisted, pulled, ripped at the roots. Cuts and bruises covered her body, her once porcelain skin is now unrecognizable.

"I didn't even know where to begin," said Melinda, shaking her head and looking back at the woman "The sick bastard made sure she couldn't move, there were severe bruising around her pelvis and thighs. Cuts and bruises covering 90 percent of her body...I found presence of seminal fluid, I'd estimate time of death around 5am," Melinda stopped and bent down next to the body, opening the gap between her big toe and second toe.

"A needle mark?" Nick asked "What, was she a junkie?"

Melinda shook her head "I highly doubt it, it's the only one one on her entire body, so unless she was snorting, she was clean," she explained.

"The perp did this?" Amanda asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.

Melinda nodded "That would be my assumption," she replied before standing up "I'll have to run tests before confirming, but judging by the lack of defensive wounds, I'd say it's some sort of paralytic,"

"So she felt everything," Nick stated.

"She felt everything." Melinda confirmed.

* * *

"Katrina Hollister, moved to Manhattan 11 months ago from San Diego." Carisi starts as Olivia joined them out in the bullpen, leaning against Amanda's desk in front of the whiteboard "Works as a bartender at a club called _'Poison'_ , I was gonna head over there and talk to the owner,"

"Good, Carisi, go." Olivia nodded and Carisi stood, grabbing his coat and racing out of the precinct.

"I talked to the woman who found our vic," said Rollins, glancing at the notepad momentarily as she continued "She said that she mostly kept to herself but she was nice, always said hello, helped the old lady downstairs with her bags, even looked after her cats when she needed to. She didn't think that Katrina had any enemies, but she did say that a guy came 'round a couple of times bangin' on her door, calling her Anastasia," Rollins shrugged "She figured that the guy got the wrong girl,"

"Did she get a name?"

"Nate, or Nathan," Rollins said "She couldn't really remember but she said she'd definitely recognize him if she saw him again so I brought her in and sat her down with a sketch artist,"

Olivia nodded "Good, Nick?" she turned to the detective next to her.

"I talked to the old lady downstairs, Mrs. Marcums, she thought the world of Katrina, always smiling, always nice, but other than that she didn't see or hear anything last night. But I talked to the doorman and he said that Katrina was always friendly with the guy who owns the electronics store across the street. The store was closed today so I need to go to his home address and follow up, see if he knows this Nate guy,"

"Okay, go, call if you find anything," Olivia said, standing up and heading towards her office "Amanda, check her financials, phone bills, you know the drill, I have a briefing with Dodds and 1PP,"

Amanda snorted as she sat down at her computer "Good luck," she remarked, making Olivia smirk as she popped into her office, grabbed some files and disappeared out of the precinct.

* * *

"Sergeant Benson," Dodds started as they sat around the conference room table "We've been informed that your case is quite...horrific,"

"They're all horrific," she deadpanned, and Olivia could almost swear she saw his lip quirk "But, yes, this one is especially sickening,"

"Have you any leads?" another white shirt asked her.

"A few," she nodded, her hands clasped in front of her, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at him. It had only been five hours since the body had been found, and they expect the guy to be convicted and in prison by now with a sworn confession keeping them there "My detectives are out chasing them as we speak. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to the work I was trained to do," she started to stand when Dodds spoke again.

"Sergeant," he said, also taking to his feet "A moment, if you will," he said, gesturing to the door.

After following her out of the conference room, he manouvered himself to stand in front of her "Yes, Chief?"

"Olivia, when are you planning on taking the Lieutenant's exam?" he asked her.

"Excuse me?" she asked in confusion.

"The exam. When are you sitting it?" he asked again.

Olivia frowned slightly and shifted on her feet "I'm not sure that I am,"

"Why not?" he asked her like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm happy where I am," Olivia replied simply.

"Well they aren't," Dodds gestured to the other white shirts still in the conference room "Take the exam, Sergeant," he said and turned around, walking back into the conference room.

Olivia sighed and rolled her eyes before walking out of the building, pulling out her cellphone as it rang "Benson,"

_"Don't you check your I.D. before you answer?"_ Olivia rolled her eyes at the voice on the other end.

"Not a good time, Tucker," she replied as she continued walking.

_"Okay, I'll keep this short,"_ he replied _"Have you booked in a date for your exam yet?"_

"Tucker..." she groaned.

_"Come on, Olivia, what's stopping you?"_

"I don't need more paperwork,"

_"Bullshit,"_ Olivia rolled her eyes at him again _"We need more people like you,"_

"We?" she asked skeptically.

_"Yeah, us Lieutenants gotta stick together,"_

"I'm not a Lieutenant, Tucker,"

_"Not yet,"_

"Why is this such a big deal to everyone? Fin's all over my ass, Nick's all over my ass, _you're_ all over my ass, even Dodds,"

_"Because you deserve it,"_ Olivia heard his voice shift slightly _"I'll let you carry on with you're busy day,"_

Olivia smirked slightly "Bye, Ed." she said, before she hung up.

* * *

"She's dead?" the blonde woman with bright blue eyes asked. Her eyes suddenly losing a few shades of color.

"Yes, ma'm," Carisi replied softly "I'm sorry for your loss,"

The woman covered her mouth with her hand "Oh my God," she said and sat on the bar stool, Carisi sat on the one next to her.

"Miss Summers, were the two of you close?" he asked, pulling out his notepad.

"Uh, not really," she replied, shaking her head slightly "But she was a good person, she would always talk to the customers, make them laugh, cheer them up if they were havin' a bad day, y'know?"

Carisi gave her a small smile "Did she have any problems with any customers?"

She shook her head "No, the customers loved her," she replied "Although there was one guy that came around and they started arguing about something and suddenly he starts yelling at her, calling her Anastasia and a liar,"

"Did you happen to catch this guys name?" asked Carisi.

"He said it was...Nathaniel looking for Anastasia," she said and shrugged slightly "I said I didn't know anyone here by that name, and then he got really angry when he saw Katrina,"

"Do you remember anything else about this guy?" Carisi asked her.

"No, I don't think so," the woman shook her head, as her eyes started to fill with tears.

Before he could open his mouth, his phone went off. Checking the phone, he turned it a around to show her a photo of a sketch that Liv had sent him "Miss Summers, is this Nathaniel?"

The blonde looked at the photo and choked back a sob as she nodded "Yes, that's him!"

Carisi put his phone away and embraced the woman as she fell forward towards him. He could tell that they were much closer than she had let on "I'm so sorry,"

* * *

"Dodds rip your ass a new one for not findin' this sick freak yet?" Fin asked as she walked back into the squad room.

"I got out of there faster than I thought I ever could, actually," she replied "Did you go see Warner?"

"Yeah," he said "Melinda definitely found traces of a paralytic in the vic's system, but it's gonna take more time to figure out which one exactly, she's gonna call me when she finds out. She also found a burn mark on her throat," he said and passed her a photo of a burn mark with a circle connected to two parallel vertical lines, and two horizontal lines going in the opposite directions.

"Looks like a head and shoulders," Olivia said, frowning.

"That's what I thought, too. But I ran it past my symbol guy-"

"You have a symbol guy?" Amanda perked up from her computer "You have a rope guy, a tide guy who's also your rope guy, and now you have a symbol guy?"

Olivia smirked at her "Sometimes it's just best not to ask,"

Amanda chuckled to herself as she went back to typing on her computer "As I was saying," Fin gave a pointed look to Amanda who just smirked without looking up "I ran it past my symbol guy and he thinks it's the Alchemy symbol for 'death',"

" _Death?_ " Olivia asked "Isn't that a little obvious?"

"Well, nothin' about this guy is subtle," said Amanda, standing up from her chair and positioning herself right in front of the board "I mean, it's all almost...theatrical,"

"Or he's just a sick freak who needs to be put down?" Fin suggested with a shrug.

"...Maybe,"

* * *

"Mr Jacobs, I hear you were friendly with Miss Hollister," Nick said as the a short, stocky, balding man in his late fifties ushered him into his small, cluttered apartment. The building was ratty, but the apartment itself was quite clean.

"Ah, yes, Katrina was quite the young woman," he said, and Nick could swear he saw a look of pride cross his face "She was like my own, I can't believe she's gone,"

"I'm sorry for your loss," said Nick, earning a nod of thanks in return "Do you know someone by the name of Nathan or Nate?"

"No," he said, shaking his head "I don't think so,"

Nick pulled out his phone and showed him the sketch Liv had sent him and Carisi "What about this guy?"

Jacobs studied the photo for a moment before frowning and nodding slightly "Yes, hangin' around Katrina's building, but I never saw him go inside,"

"Thank you," he said, putting his phone back in his pocket jacket "Do you know if Katrina was having any problems? Money? Boyfriends?"

"Boyfriends?" Jacobs chuckled quietly before shaking his head "Katrina had a crush on someone, that's for sure,"

"You know who?"

"Wasn't that hard to figure out," Jacobs said with a small smile.

* * *

"You get much out of the boss?" Liv asked Carisi as he walked into the bullpen, followed by Nick.

"She recognized the guy as Nathaniel, the guy kept saying Katrina was Anastasia," Carisi replied, ditching his coat and suit jacket onto the back of his chair "But I also had a feeling she and our vic were closer than she was lettin' on,"

"You got that right," Nick said "According to the store owner across the street from Katrina's apartment, Katrina had a thing for Summers,"

"Huh," Amanda said "So who's this Nathaniel guy then?"

"Let's find out," said Liv.

Suddenly, the phone Fin was talking on, had been hung up "Liv, we got another one,"

* * *

Exact same M.O. Exact same wire, same victim type. Dark hair, slim build, young, living on their own.

"Maybe this Nate guy's livin' in his own world and everyone's Anastasia?" Fin asked as they sat at their desks looking over crime scene photos and details about both victims lives.

"Maybe we need real evidence, Fin," Liv said, giving him a pointed look that told him to find something useful.

"Good plan, Sergeant," they heard Dodds' voice from behind them, and Liv rolled her eyes before turning to face him.

"Chief," she greeted "My office?"

"That'd be preferable, yes," he replied and Olivia led him to her office and shut the door behind them.

"What do you think that's about?" Amanda asked as they watched them through the open blinds of Olivia's office.

"Maybe he's telling her to take the Lieutenant's exam?" Carisi snickered.

"I don't understand why she won't just do it," Amanda asked them "I mean, there are way more pros than cons here,"

"You know Liv," Fin said "She hates politics, she doesn't want to have to deal with more of that,"

"Yeah, but c'mon," Nick said "She's gonna risk losing her position as C.O. for a little less politics? No way, I don't buy it," he shook his head, making Fin shrug before Dodds came out of the office, walking past them before Olivia came out and stood before them.

"What was that about?" Carisi dared to ask.

"Apparently we need help," she said, obviously irritated by the conversation she'd just had.

"Help?" Nick asked "From who?"

"The FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit."


	2. The FBI? Seriously?

  
"I know it's early, but we have a case," Hotch said, as he strode into the conference room, where the rest of the team had been situated.

"Sir, I didn't hear anything about a case," Garcia replied with a slight frown.

Hotch nodded as he sat down "I know, this came directly to me,"

"Where we headed?" asked Rossi.

"New York," Hotch replied, gesturing them to flip open their tablets to reveal the file he had sent them all moments earlier "I got a call from an old friend, Deputy Chief William Dodds in Manhattan," he explained "Their Special Victims Unit has two bodies both killed within 12 hours of each other, same M.O., same signature, they want all hands on deck on this one,"

"It says the Sergeant in charge...Benson, only caught the case yesterday, why are we being brought in so early?" Emily asked "We don't even know if this is a serial,"

"True," Hotch said "But 1PP has cold feet and called us in,"

"It's quite unusual for an unsub to kill twice within such a short amount of time," Reid said "It's quite rare, actually,"

"Yeah, but I've heard good things about Benson," Alex said "I've had a couple of friends who've worked with her and she's good police,"

"Even good police need help sometimes," Derek added.

"Exactly," Hotch said "We can study the case on the jet, we're heading to Manhattan," he stood, grabbing his tablet "Wheels up in 20."

* * *

"The FBI?" Nick asked "You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Liv, we don't have such a good track record with the feds," Fin pointed out "They either get arrested for murder or they kill someone and blow their own brains out, these people aren't normal,"

"Look, I know it seems that way, but we've just had bad luck," said Olivia, trying to reason with them, even if she didn't agree with it herself "But I've been told that these people are the best of the best, so please just try and work with them,"

"I don't like this, Serge," Carisi shook his head.

Olivia sighed "I know, Sonny, neither do I," she replied before returning back to her office and closing the door.

"Uh, oh," Fin said.

"What?" Carisi asked.

"She called you Sonny," Amanda replied "Bad sign,"

"Oh,"

As Olivia sat down at her desk, she picked up her phone.

_"Tucker,"_

"Don't you check your I.D. before you answer?" she retorted with a smirk.

She could almost hear him chuckle on the other end _"Olivia, how are you?"_

"Have you ever worked with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit?" she asked, ignoring his question.

_"Enough of the chit-chat, okay."_ he replied sarcastically _"Uh, yeah I hear they're good, why?"_

"They're taking over my case," she replied.

_"The BAU doesn't take over cases, apparently,"_

Olivia snorted lightly "Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it,"

_"You're worried,"_

"We don't exactly have a good...track record with the feds,"

_"Didn't you go undercover for them?"_

"Yes, but my case agent had me chasing the wrong group-" she started to rant "But that's not the point, do you know these people or not?"

_"They're good agents, Olivia,"_ he replied _"Trust them,"_

Olivia nodded slightly, even though he couldn't see it "Thanks Tucker,"

_"No problem,"_ he replied, and she could tell he was about to say something that would make her roll her eyes _"You can thank me by taking the Lieutenant's exam,"_

Yep. Cue eye-roll.

"Goodbye, Ed." she said and hung up. She had no doubt he was wearing that obnoxious smirk on his face as she leaned back in her chair.

She looked over at the photo of her son and smiled warmly before standing up and walking back out to the squad room "Alright guys, it's late, get some rest. The feds'll be here in the morning so I want all of you back here bright and early,"

* * *

"So far there's no connection between the two victims apart from their appearance and living situation," JJ said "Katrina Hollister moved to New York less than a year ago whilst Skylar Dowd was a born and raised New Yorker,"

"Both women mostly kept to themselves, neighbors and co-workers say they were good people, no enemies," Derek added.

"How'd the unsub know?" asked Emily "I mean, it's not like he just saw someone that fit his physical description, it was like he needed the whole profile, like he needed the personality to fit as well,"

"He must've crossed paths with them personally, not just looked from afar," Alex said.

"You're saying the victims knew the unsub?" Emily asked.

"It's the only logical explanation," Hotch said "Unless he's just really lucky,"

"No one's that lucky," Derek replied.

"The M.E. reported the approximate TOD's were 5 am and 8 pm," Rossi said, looking at the report "Why? What's so special about 5 and 8?"

"Well it might not be the number itself," Reid said "August in New York, the approximate time for sunrise is 5:35 am and 8:28 pm, he might not be working off an analogue time but an solar one,"

"Does that mean he's gonna kill every sunrise and sunset?" Derek asked, his eyebrows furrowing at the absurdity.

"Well, it's now 7:30, so if we have another victim, we'll find out when we get there," Hotch replied.

* * *

"When are the suits getting here?" Nick asked as they sat in the squad room going over their case. It was currently 8 am and everyone had been there for a least an hour so far.

"Nick, what are you talking about? _You_ wear a suit." Amanda asked him.

"You know what I mean," Nick replied, rolling his eyes at her.

"If you're referring to us the answer is now," they all turned to see exactly what they expected. A bunch of suits in their squad room.

Olivia suddenly emerged from her office "You must be the BAU," she said, walking over to them and sticking out her hand to the man who appeared to be in charge. A tall, quite handsome, dark haired man who looked like he'd seem more than his fair share of horrors "Olivia Benson,"

"Sergeant, we've heard great things," he replied, the corner of his mouth twitching up further than usual "Aaron Hotchner, these are my agents; Rossi, Prentiss, Jareau, Blake, Morgan and Dr. Reid," he introduced, letting them shake hands, or in Reid's case, wave.

"Doctor?" Fin piped up from his desk "What are you? Like 26?"

"32," Reid replied, earning snickers from the rest of the squad. Olivia turned her head to glare at them all, telling them off.

"Excuse them," she said "We have a conference room through there if you prefer,"

"Thank you," Hotch nodded to her, grateful, his lip twitching upward again "We also have our technical analyst back in Quantico,"

"Technical Analyst?" Amanda raised an eyebrow.

"A hacker," Emily clarified "The best in the business,"

"Right,"

"Anyway, these are detectives Amaro, Rollins, Tutuola and Carisi-" Olivia was cut off by Carisi.

"Call me Sonny," he smiled, extending his hand to the agents.

"Literally _no one_ else calls you that," Amanda piped up, just like every time he told someone to call him that. Carisi rolled his eyes at Amanda who just smirked back at him.

"Why don't you two just whip 'em out so we can get back to work?" Olivia replied with an eye-roll before turning back to the agents who looked like they were trying not to show any amusement "Where do you want to start?"

"The crime scenes," Hotch replied with a nod "If you don't mind us borrowing two of your detectives, one for each crime scene,"

"Of course," Olivia replied before turning to her squad "Fin, take the Hollister apartment, Carisi, Dowd apartment,"

"Prentiss and Morgan with Detective Tutuola, Reid and Blake with Detective Carisi," Hotch instructed, earning nods from his agents.

"Hey Serge!" a uniformed officer called out as he walked into the squad room "There's a whole bunch of reporters outside wanting to know what the deal is with the feds bein' here,"

"Already?" Blake asked "We landed half an hour ago,"

"Uh, Liv? Jimmy Mac wants to talk to you," Nick called out as he held a hand over the receiver of the desk phone.

"Great," Olivia rolled her eyes.

"I can handle the press outside if you want?" JJ piped up and looked at Hotch "I may be a little rusty, but I was a media liaison remember?"

"Media liaison?" Fin asked as he rose from his desk "That a real job?"

"Fin," Olivia warned before turning back to the blonde agent "Thank you, that would be great,"

"And what about your old pal, Jimmy?" Nick asked, still holding onto the phone.

"We can handle him too, if it makes it easier?" Hotch asked, surprising his whole team.

Olivia gave him a small smile of gratitude but shook her head "Thanks, but I can handle Jimmy," she replied as she walked over to Nick and picked up the phone as she perched herself on the edge of his desk "Hi Jimmy," she said and paused for a few seconds before she rolled her eyes "Goodbye Jimmy," and hung up before turning to her detectives.

"Fin, Carisi," she motioned them out the door and they left with their respective agents, as JJ left for the reporters "Does she know what she's going to say?"

"She'll figure it out," Hotch replied "Sergeant, may I have a word with you in your office?"

"Of course," she replied and lead him into her office, closing the door behind them.

"Sergeant, I just wanted to say that we have no intention of stepping on your toes," he said "I know you run a fine unit here and I don't want you to feel undermined in any way,"

"Yeah, well, sometimes you need help whether you like to admit it or not," Olivia replied "My detectives may seem a little...hostile, but it's not personal," she explained "We just don't have a very good experience with the FBI,"

"So I've heard," Hotch nodded "But I can assure you that my unit is good, and all we want to do is help, if you ask us to leave, we'll leave. That's the deal,"

Olivia nodded with a small smile "Duly noted," she replied "And you don't have to keep calling me Sergeant, you know," she said as they made their way to the door.

"Ah, yes, word on the grapevine is that you're next in line for Lieutenancy," he said, following her, making her whip around suddenly and look at him.

"How'd you-...Dodds." she scowled "I swear to God the next person who mentions that damn exam..."

Hotch raised his hands in surrender "I apologize, I didn't realize it was a touchy subject,"

"It's fine," she replied, relaxing a little "Just call me Olivia,"

"Call me Hotch," he gave her a smile, his dimples finally showing. She returned his full smile as she reached for the door, before putting their professional faces back on.

* * *

"You got a problem with the FBI, Detective?" Morgan asked Fin as they were driving to the first crime scene.

"What makes you say that?" Fin asked, not looking at him.

"You're a little tense," Emily remarked from the backseat as she looked over images on her tablet, not looking up.

Fin glanced at her in the mirror, before answering "Nothing good ever comes out of working with you people," he replied "Does the name Lauren Cooper mean anything to you?" Derek and Emily shared a look before Fin spoke again "Or Dana Lewis?"

"You got both of them, huh?" asked Morgan.

"Look, Cooper was a good agent," Emily said "One of the best, actually, but she just...snapped,"

"Yeah, all over my friend," Fin shot back.

"Sergeant Benson," Derek said.

Fin didn't reply as they pulled up outside the apartment building and hopped out the car. Before they stepped inside, Fin stopped them "Just keep your crap away from my Sergeant, that includes your boss,"

"Excuse me?" Emily asked.

"You heard me," Fin replied before they entered the building. Emily and Derek looked at each other, he was right. Hotch was different with Benson, it may be nothing, but Fin was sure it wasn't, and that may be a problem.

As they walked through the crime scene, trying to find anything the others missed, they worked in silence. Until Emily looked at the bedroom layout.

"Hey Morgan!" she called out to him to in the living room, making him and Fin come to her "Detective Tutuola, the victim's head was facing the left, correct?"

"Yeah, she couldn't move," he replied.

"And she was lying on the floor," she said, crouching down, lowering herself so she was just off the floor in a plank position "She was paralyzed, she couldn't move, he positioned everything the way he wanted it to be positioned,"

"Power assertive unsub, not unusual," said Morgan, shrugging slightly.

"What're you gettin' at?" Fin asked.

"She saw everything," Emily said "He positioned her on the floor, her hands tied behind her back, her neck tied to her ankles, he knew she would feel everything but he wanted her to see it as well," she said gesturing to the wall length mirror in front of the wardrobe.

"Sick freak," Fin said, disgusted.

"He wanted her to look at him," Emily started as she stood up "He wanted her to see what he was doing, what he was capable of,"

"Why?"

_"Power."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don't remember, Lauren Cooper was BAU agent that appeared in SVU a while ago. She killed a serial killer and then killed herself if front of Olivia. Just in case you didn't know that.


	3. Red Necks and Green Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Excuse me if I get anything wrong factually, and don't be afraid to point out my mistakes.

"Prentiss and Morgan found the exact same thing we did," Alex said as she, Reid and Carisi walked back into the squad room "The victim positioned in front of the mirror to make sure she saw everything,"

"Classic power sadist," Hotch said "You find anything else?"

"Well the no-forced entry fits our theory that they knew each other on some level," Alex said.

"How'd you get to that?" Nick asked them, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Their profiles are too similar to be a coincidence," Olivia joined in casually, not looking up at her phone "That was Melinda," she said, finally looking up "The paralytic agent used was Pipecuronium," she explained before looking back down at her phone "The drug would have had her paralyzed for..." Olivia sighed before she spoke again "...over 3 hours,"

"And she felt every single moment of it," Nick said.

"She also found a choke mark around their necks," Olivia continued "He must've made them pass out beforehand, explains how he could get the needle in between their toes,"

"Where would you find a drug like that? I've never even heard of it before," Alex asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"Research labs," Reid said "A lot of pharmaceutical companies won't have it on site anymore, so if we can narrow down where the two victims may have crossed paths, we can cross reference with Garcia,"

Hotch took out his phone and put it on loudspeaker as it dialed _"Fountain of All Knowledge, speak and be dazzled!"_

Olivia, Carisi, Nick and Amanda looked at each other oddly as the Unit Chief started to talk back, the rest of the agents not even phased.

"Garcia, I need you to check records of all hospitals and clinics to see if either of our victims were treated or admitted in the past 6 months,"

_"Uh..."_ they heard the distinct sound of fast typing in the background, along with dings and pings from the screens that were surely surrounding her _"I have nothing for Katrina Hollister, but I do have a ER visit at Bellevue for Skylar Dowd 3 months ago,"_

"What was she being treated for?" Olivia asked and suddenly the typing stopped.

_"Ooh, who was that?"_ Garcia replied, intrigued _"You sound pretty, are you the woman in charge? It's Olivia, right? Can I call you Olivia? Oh my Gosh, you're as gorgeous as you sound!"_ Olivia looked at Alex and Reid who were trying not to laugh, and then Hotch who looked like he was about to run out of patience _"Wow, look at your rate, you're like-"_

"Garcia!" Hotch snapped, but Nick could see a little bit of red around his collar and smirked to himself "What was she being treated for?"

_"A broken wrist,"_ Garcia replied _"I can keep searching anywhere and everywhere for Katrina but so far I've got nothing, I'm sorry my lovelies,"_

"That's okay, Garcia, also can you email us a list of places where you can find Pipecuronium," Hotch said.

_"In a flash,"_ she replied _"Wonder Woman, I'm trusting you to keep my babies safe!"_

"Goodbye Garcia," Hotch said before hanging up.

"Wonder Woman?" Olivia quirked an eyebrow at the agents.

"Yes, I-uh-I think that's you," Hotch replied, giving her a small, slightly embarrassed smile. Olivia nodded slowly, her mouth open, giving a silent 'Oh'.

"Right," Nick said, butting in before Olivia could get anymore embarrassed "We can't find any connection between the two vics; they live in different neighborhoods, went to different doctors, shopped at different supermarkets, there's literally nothing that ties them together,"

"Well, there has to be something," Olivia replied "We're just not seeing it,"

"Like what's with the sunrise-sunset thing anyway?" Amanda asked "It's weird, right?"

"And there's no reports of another victim so the cooling off period is out of order," Alex added.

"So how are we supposed to know when he strikes next?" asked Nick "This guy's all over the place,"

"There's no way to know," Hotch replied "But considering he was fine with killing twice within a span of 24 hours, we have a day or two at the most,"

"Great," Olivia sighed "Have you managed to track down our mystery guy?"

"Not yet," Amanda replied, shaking her head "We're wokin' on it though,"

"Good, maybe he knows something we don't," Olivia replied, just as Carisi's phone started ringing.

"Carisi," he answered "Yes, Miss Summers. Of course," he paused, glancing at Olivia "Sure, I'll be right there,"

"That the boss?" Olivia asked as he hung up.

"Yeah, she wants to meet me," he replied "She said she found something that we should see,"

"Okay, go," Olivia nodded, and Carisi raced out the precinct once again.

* * *

"There's a lot less places here than I thought there would be," Reid said, looking over the list that Garcia had sent them, as they sat around the conference room table.

"Well there's a first for everything isn't there, Pretty Boy?" Derek smirked over at him. He, Emily and Fin had returned from the Hollister crime scene and were helping the rest with files and lists.

"What are we looking for anyway?" Amanda asked.

"These companies are usually small, so look for any cross over between employees, delivery services, distributors, etc." said Emily.

"Wait, I got a Dr Whitehall," said Alex, holding up a file "Works for Orgen Pharmaceuticals, but he's also a surgeon at Bellevue,"

"Yeah, I've met him a couple times," said Olivia "He's the head of the trauma department," she said "I'll go and ask around,"

"I'll come with you," Hotch said, earning a single nod in return as they stood and collected their things.

* * *

"Miss Summers," Carisi greeted the shorter blonde at her closed bar, sitting across from her in the booth.

"Please, it's Indie," she gave a tight lipped smile that didn't make it halfway up to her eyes "And thank you for meeting me,"

"Of course," he replied "How are you doing?" he asked softly.

"I take it you know..." Indie said, slumping slightly "About Katrina and I?"

Carisi gave her a sympathetic smile "I had a guess," he replied "How long had you two been together?"

"Eight months this fall," she replied, her smile growing at the thought, her eyes watering "I was actually gonna ask her to move in with me on our anniversary," she explained "Katrina was the best thing that ever happened to me and now..."

Carisi stayed quiet for a moment, knowing she needed someone to talk to about this "Did anyone else know about the two of you?"

"My other three bartenders," she nodded "They all knew how I felt about her before we did," she chuckled softly as she reached down next to her and slid over a photo "I was going through her things, thought it might help me find some closure," she shrugged as Carisi picked up the photo "I recognized the guy and thought you should have it,"

Carisi frowned at the picture, his eyebrows furrowing deeper when he read the back. He studied it for a second before he pocketed it it his suit pocket and looked back at her "Thank you, it does,"

Indie nodded "Can I see her?"

He looked at her for a moment and sighed softly "You don't want to do that,"

"Why not?" she asked, a sob forming in her throat "What did he do to her?" she cried.

"You don't need to know that," he said, reaching across and grabbing her hands in his own "Listen to me, Indie. This Katrina," he said, gesturing to the photo that hung on the wall with Katrina and a couple of the customers "Smiling Katrina, beautiful, kind Katrina that you _loved_ and that loved _you_ , _that's_ the Katrina that you will remember,"

Indie looked at him, tears streaming down her face "Remember the woman you fell in love with," he said, making her nod slightly and sniffle as she calmed down "Listen, if you need anything, you call,"

Indie nodded again "Thank you, Detective Carisi,"

"Call me Sonny,"

* * *

"How long you been doin' this?" Olivia asked as she and Hotch walked through the corridors of Bellevue.

"Uh, about 20 years, before that I was a prosecutor," he replied "What about you?"

Olivia chuckled slightly "Sometimes I think too long,"

"Tell me about it," said Hotch, giving her the two-dimpled smile "You got any kids?"

"One. Noah, he's almost two now," she smiled at the thought of her son "You?"

"Jack, he's nine," Hotch replied "I don't get to spend as much time with him as I want, but we get through it, and believe it or not, as they grow up they don't want to spend as much time with you anyway,"

Olivia laughed at that "Can't wait for that," she replied sarcastically as they reached the nurses station.

"Can I help you?" the nurse asked, not really smiling but the greeting was still friendly.

"Hi, Sergeant Benson, NYPD, this is Special Agent Hotchner, FBI," Olivia said as they flashed her their badges quickly "We were just wondering if you recognize this woman?" she asked, showing her a photo of Skylar Dowd.

"She looks familiar, we get a lot of people through here, but yeah I think I've seen her before," the nurse replied with a nod.

"And what about her?" Olivia asked and she flipped to a photo of Katrina Hollister.

The nurse took the phone from Olivia so she could study it closer for a few moment "No, I'm sorry, I don't recognize her," she replied as she handed the phone back to Olivia "You could ask the nurse who's usually here when I'm not, Carly Bennett, she has the day off today but I can get you her address if you'd like?"

"That would be great, thank you," Olivia gave her a grateful smile before turning to Hotch and asked quietly "So what next if this becomes another dead-end?"

"We keep looking," Hotch replied as the nurse started to print out the info.

"Here you go," she said, and handed over the piece of paper "Good luck," she gave a smile this time as she sent them on their way.

"We're not gonna find this guy before he kills again, are we?" Olivia asked as she read the address in her head, trying to pinpoint where it was exactly.

"We'll catch him," Hotch said firmly.

"Olivia!" Both looked up to see the voice that had called out. He was blonde, but a few grays were starting to take over his sideburns. He was only just taller than she was, but not as tall as Hotch, and his blue eyes were smiling at her, just like his face.

"Kyle," she greeted him with a smile "Long time no see,"

"Under the circumstances we normally run into each other, I'd say that's a good thing," he chuckled, making her join in with him, leaving Hotch standing there, his eyes turning a little green.

"Oh, right, Agent Hotchner this is Dr Kyle Beresford, he's helped us on numerous occasions," Olivia introduced and Kyle stuck out his hand, which Hotch shook.

"Nice to meet you,"

"Pleasure,"

"Well, if you've ever got some free time, give me a call," Kyle said to Olivia "Maybe we can grab some coffee and catch up, we miss your face around here," he smiled.

"Of course," she smiled back, just as Kyle's pager went off.

"Damn," he muttered as he read it, then looked back up at them "Gotta run, it was nice meeting you, Agent Hotchner," he said as he started to jog passed "Don't forget that coffee, Olivia!" he called over his shoulder, flashing her a grin as he disappeared.

"Charming," Hotch deadpanned as they started to walk.

"He's actually a really nice guy," she said, not noticing the jealousy in his voice "And he's great with victims,"

"I'm sure he is," he replied, making Olivia glance at him with her eyebrows furrowed "So how far away does this nurse live?"

"Uh, ten minutes," she replied, choosing to ignore the tone he'd used.

* * *

"Did Summers give you anything?" asked Nick as Carisi entered the squad room once again.

"She did," he nodded and pulled out the photo from his jacket, and handing it over to him.

"That's Katrina, with what looks like Nathaniel," Nick said "So she _did_ know him,"

"Look on the back," Carisi said, swiping a doughnut from the middle of the table.

_"Nathaniel and Anastasia, 2014 San Diego Comic Con,"_ he read out.

"So Katrina really was Anastasia?" asked Amanda, leaning forward on her elbows.

"It's probably hwy we can't find any record of her previous to the last 11 months," Nick said "She doesn't exist,"

"So who are we really lookin' for?" Amanda asked and Emily reached over to the speakerphone set up on the table.

_"I thought you forgot about me,"_ Garcia picked up.

"Hey PG," Emily said "Comic Con tickets are bought online, right?"

_"They sure are, Gumdrop? Who're we looking for?"_ she replied, keys once again clicking in the background.

"Narrow it down to anyone with the first name Nathaniel," Rossi said.

_"Uh, I got 6 Nathaniels, 8 Nathans,"_

"Okay, now are there any Anastasias?" JJ asked.

_"4."_

"Can you send them all through to us, Baby Girl?" Derek asked her.

_"Oh, of course, my Chocolate Adonis,"_ she replied, making the detectives perk up and look mildly concerned _"Comin' right atcha,"_

"Thanks, Sexy Mama," Derek replied and hung up.

There was a moment of silence as the detective tried to wrap their brains around the encounter "Don't worry, they do that," Alex whispered "It's their thing,"

"Right," Nick smirked as their tablets dinged with the names and details of the 18 names Garcia just sent through.

"Man, I wish we had our own private hacker," Carisi replied.

"We do just fine," Fine replied.

"Really?" Amanda raised her eyebrows at him "It took me a year just to teach you how to use the system we got now,"

"See, now you're just exaggeratin'," Fin replied in defense.

"Mhm,"

"I don't see Katrina in these," Emily said, looking through the four 'Anastasias'.

"I found Nathaniel," Alex said "Nathaniel Pierce, 27, lives in South San Diego, California." she read "According to his bank statement, he bought a ticket to New York a month ago and has been staying at a motel down the street from Katrina's apartment,"

"Let's go check him out," Emily said, looking at Amanda to come with her, earning a nod in return as they both stood to leave.

* * *

"Mrs Bennett?" Olivia asked the older but short, kind-faced woman who answered the apartment door.

"Yes?"

"I'm Sergeant Benson, this is Agent Hotchner, do you have a few minutes to answer some questions?" Olivia introduced them as they flashed their badges once again.

"Of course, come in," the woman smiled and ushered them into the small, cozy apartment "What can I help you with?"

"Another nurse from Bellevue sent us here, she said you might recognize these two young women?" Hotch asked, showing her the two photos at the same time.

"Yes, I remember her," Mrs Bennett said, gesturing to Skylar Dowd "She came in with a broken wrist. It was so busy, it took two hours for the poor thing to even get it looked at. And even after all that hassle, she was still a sweetheart to everyone, never once complained,"

"And what about the other girl?" Olivia asked.

Mrs Bennett took another moment to study the photo again before shaking her head "I'm sorry, I don't recognize her,"

"Well thank you for your time, Mrs Bennett," Hotch smiled at her as she handed the photos back.

"Oh, please, call me Carly," the woman replied and looked at the two smiling faces "Has anyone ever told you that you'd be a darling couple? So sweet! And I bet you'd make beautiful babies!"

* * *

"Your partner doesn't like outsiders, does he?" Emily asked Amanda as they drove toward the motel.

"Whatever gave you that impression?" Amanda drawled with a smirk, earning one back from the taller agent "Fin and Liv have both been a part of this unit a long time, they've seen a lot of things, they have their reasons,"

"I get that," Emily said with a nod "How long you been in New York?"

"Almost four years," she replied "I was transferred from Atlanta Special Victims,"

"It's tough," Emily added "Women and children are the worst cases for us, unfortunately they're about 90% of the cases for you,"

"Tell me about it," Amanda replied "But I don't know how you do it," she said "I mean, there's no way I'd be able to travel cross country every other week and look at cases like these,"

"The same way you do it," Emily shrugged "You think of the survivors, the people you helped,"

Amanda nodded and they drove the rest of the way in silence, before pulling into the parking lot of a flea bag motel "Classy," she said.

Emily snorted slightly as they climbed out of the SUV, heading towards the front desk where a large, greasy man in a sweat-stained tank and balding hair sat reading a cheap magazine with a half naked woman on the front.

"Excuse me," Emily said, making the man look up and smile at her predatory.

"What can I do for you, Sexy?" he asked as he stared straight at Emily.

"We're lookin' for this guy," she said, pulling out a photo of Nathaniel Pierce and showing it to him "Which room?"

"That depends, Honey," he said, staring to stand and reach for her "Why don't you and I-AHH!"

The man screamed in pain as Emily twisted his wrist, pinning it to the counter, dangerously close to snapping his thumb "How about this, _Honey_ , you tell us which room this guy's in or I'll have every single law enforcement agency swarming this place looking for anything to throw your lard-ass behind bars and I'll arrest you for assaulting a federal agent,"

"Okay! Okay!" he winced in pain as he cried out and Amanda just stood back in amusement "Room 17, he's in room 17!"

Emily gave him an annoyed shove as she pushed him back in his chair, hard, and stalked towards room 17, Amanda smirking in tow.

"Not really in the mood for games, are ya, _Honey?_ " Amanda asked as she fell in-step with the agent.

"Not with pigs like him," Emily said as they reached the room. Amanda pound her fist on the door three times "Nathaniel Pierce, FBI!"

When there was no response, Emily looked at Amanda "Do you smell gas?" she asked, a mischievous glint in her eye as she drew her weapon from it's holster.

"Potentially lethal amounts," Amanda replied, returning her look and drawing her own.

Emily kicked the door hard, making it fly from it's hinges, both women raising their weapons as they stormed the place "Clear!" Emily called out.

"Clear!" Amanda called back, both holstering their weapons as they met up in the middle "He's not here, but his stuff is,"

"Which means he'll be back," said Emily, looking around "God, can you imagine living in a place like this for a whole month?"

"Lord, no," Amanda scoffed "I'da died from some flesh eating disease,"

"I found another photo of Katrina," said Emily, holding up a stack of photos from the bedside table "Looks like they we're close,"

"I wonder why she ran," Amanda mused but both women paused when they heard footsteps. Drawing their weapons once again, they edged their way to the door as Nathaniel appeared in the doorway with a plastic bag in one hand. His eyes went wide when he saw them, then dropped the bag and took off running.

"For God's sake!" Emily cried out in exasperation as they both took off after him "One day! One day is all I ask!"


	4. Black Eyes and Coffee Breaks

"I see you found our mystery stalker," Rossi called out as Emily and Amanda hauled the tall man with the brunette ponytail and hipster clothes through the squad room toward interrogation sporting a black eye.

"What'd he run into a door?" Nick asked, an amused smirk on his face.

"No," Emily said, shaking her head slightly "A dumpster,"

Amanda started laughing as they stopped in the middle of the room "Moron knocked himself out,"

"Seriously?" Fin chuckled "That karma for you, man!"

Amanda and Emily goaded Nathaniel as they threw him into the interrogation room, cuffing him to the table and then joining the rest of them outside.

"He say anything?" Alex asked as she perched herself on the edge of Nick's desk, reading what appeared to be an FBI file.

"No, he was a little...dazed when he came to," said Emily with a slight smirk.

"Did he actually knock himself out?" asked JJ.

"Hit the ground like a ton of bricks," Amanda said "He was running, turned a corner and-BANG!" Amanda clapped her hands loudly for effect "Out like a light,"

"I'm pretty sure he rebounded backward," Emily mused aloud "What about you guys? You find anything interesting?"

"We can't find 'Anastasia', so someone's gonna have to get that from Knock Out in there," Nick said.

"Why does my suspect have a black eye!" they heard a voice coming from the direction of the interrogation room. They all looked over to see a man in a sharp charcoal grey and coral three piece suit.

"Relax, Barba, we didn't give it to him," Amanda said as he stalked over to them.

"I don't care! All that matters is what it looks like!" Barba yelled "And it looks like you turned a runner into a dropper!"

"Well, he definitely dropped," Emily snickered, making the rest of them stifle amusement.

Barba shot her a glare "Who the hell are you?"

"Oh, we're the suits," said Emily, sticking out her hand "BAU, FBI," she abbreviated for him.

"Right," he said, shaking her hand, eyeing her "ADA Rafael Barba," he introduced "Where is Sergeant Benson?"

"She and Hotch should be back any minute now," Alex piped up, making him look at her for the first time, but she didn't look up from her file.

"Hotch?"

"Agent Hotchner, our Unit Chief," Alex said, finally glancing up and giving him a once over "Nice suit," she remarked before looking back down at her file.

Barba chose to ignore her snide remark and turn his attention to the rest of them "This case is very high-profile," he said in a low voice "Everything is to be done by the book, no screw ups, got it?"

"Sir, yes, sir," Alex said unenthusiastic, making him glare at her.

"Who even are you?" Barba asked, making the rest of them watch the exchange in mixed amusement and concern.

"Alex Blake," she said, sticking out her hand for him to shake.

"Agent-"

"Doctor," she jumped in.

"Okay," he said, eyeing her for a moment, before addressing the whole group "By the book," he warned them.

"Barba," Olivia's voice floated through the squad room "What can I do you for?"

"The Moralez case goes to trial next week, I need you prepped," he said, turning to face her as she joined rest of them with trays of coffee "What'd you stop for a tea break?"

"Coffee break," said Olivia casually as everyone started to grab their own order.

Barba rolled his eyes before continuing "Why wasn't I called in on this earlier?"

"You weren't needed," Olivia shrugged. Hotch moved away from her and stood on the other side of his agents, like he was trying to get as far away as he could.

"I'm always needed," Barba scoffed, making Alex snort her coffee and Barba glared at her "You got something to say, Doctor?"

"Over time, you'll realize that I've always got something to say," she replied. Barba rolled his eyes for what felt like the tenth time in the past two minutes.

"That is true," Derek joined in, taking a sip of his coffee.

"You're one of those, huh?" Barba said to Alex, making her smirk at him with a shrug.

"Since you two are getting along well, I'll let you explain the details of the case," Olivia said as she swiped her coffee from the tray and took off towards her office.

"But-"

"Goodbye, Barba!" she said before closing the door to her office.

Barba sighed and looked over at Alex, who looked just as annoyed as he was "Come on, Suspenders, I'll catch you up," she said, standing up and heading towards the conference room, Barba in tow.

"You know what?" said Rossi after a moment "I think that's the beginning of a beautiful friendship,"

Derek chuckled at him before addressing Hotch "You find anything?"

"No one recognized Katrina, only Skylar, so if there's a connection, it's not Bellevue," said Hotch.

"Would clinics have the drug?" asked Carisi from his desk.

"They wouldn't have it stocked on site," Emily said "Why?"

"There's an ATM withdrawal here from Katrina's account, $500, a block away from a clinic," he said "If she paid cash, that's probably why we can't find her on file.

"Worth checkin' out," Fin said, standing up and grabbing his jacket "Carisi, let's go,"

* * *

"So Katrina really is Anastasia?" asked Barba as they looked at the photo.

"Exactly," Alex said "We don't know why she ran from San Diego, maybe debts, maybe an enemy, maybe Captain Cook in there, but we don't even know her real name yet,"

"He'll know," Barba replied, gesturing to Nathaniel.

"It's our best lead," Alex responded, letting them fall into a silence for a few moments.

"How did you know?" Barba said suddenly, making her look at him "About my suspenders, how'd you know?"

Alex smirked at him "I'm a profiler, remember?"

"Right...Doctor," Barba said "How many PhDs do you have?"

"Just the one," she replied "Spencer, though, Spencer has three,"

"What is he, like 12?" Barba looked through the glass at the lanky kid, making Alex chuckle.

"When he was in college," Alex said, smirking when she saw Barba's reaction.

"Damn, when I was 12, I was just trying not to get my head kicked in on my way to school," Barba replied.

"You're one of those, huh?" Alex smirked, throwing his words back at him, making his lip twitch upward slightly.

"So there's no connection between these two victims at all?" Barba asked, looking at the two women side by side.

"Not that we've found," said Alex "We're workin' on it but so far..." she trailed off as she shook her head.

"But you don't think this Nathaniel guy's good for it?" asked Barba.

Alex shook her head "He doesn't fit the profile, but he might know something that we don't," she paused before adding "Besides, it didn't help his case that he ran, Emily really doesn't like chasing people,"

* * *

"Sir, do you recognize this woman?" Carisi asked the man at the desk of the clinic, holding out the photo for him to look at.

"Ah, yes, Katrina I think," he said "She came in three weeks ago, paid cash, I wouldn't have remembered her but she paid cash for a bone marrow biopsy," he said, handing back the photo "Said she was thinking of donating,"

"You know to who?" Fin asked.

The nurse shook his head "I'm sorry, no,"

"What about her?" Carisi handed over the other photo for him to look at. The man studied it a moment before shaking his head.

"No, I can't place her," he replied, handing back the photo.

"Okay, thank you for your time," said Carisi and they headed for the door, only to stop when they reached it.

A stack of papers lay on the stand near the door "Yo, what are these?" Fin called out to the nurse.

"Those are surveys that pharmaceutical companies bring in for patients to fill out if they want," the nurse replied.

"And what happens with the information?" asked Carisi.

"A guy comes in and picks them up, takes them back to the company," he said.

Fin and Carisi looked at each other before fin grabbed a few and they left the clinic.

"This is probably how our perp knows everything about these women," said Carisi "They write everything about their lives down for these people to see,"

"He's gotta be connected to this company," Fin said, pulling out his phone "Liv, we think we found something,"

* * *

"That was Fin," Olivia said as she came out of her office "The nurse didn't recognize Skylar and there's no record of her being there, but," she stopped in front of them "They found a bunch of surveys that a pharmaceutical company sends out to 'get to know their consumers better'," Olivia rolled her eyes as she spoke.

"Yeah, but there's no record of Skylar at that clinic," Nick said.

"Big companies don't just send them out to a couple of clinics," Olivia said "They send them out to every hospital, every lab, every pharmacy..."

"What was the company?" Hotch asked.

"Orgen Pharmaceuticals," Olivia replied, looking at him "Carly said that Skylar was stuck waiting for two hours," she continued "That's a lot of time to be stuck in a hospital,"

"She also said that she was a sweet girl," Hotch chimed in, taking a few steps closer "She would've done the survey if someone asked her to, that combined with boredom..."

"The connection was Orgen, we just didn't see it!" Olivia expressed as they were standing directly in front of each other, talking directly to one another. The rest of the group watching the scene unfold with amusement.

"We need to find those surveys," Hotch said as Olivia pulled out her phone again and Hotch looked at his watch.

"Fin, how close are you to Orgen Labs?" she asked.

"It's already 9 o'clock, they'd be shut by now," Hotch said.

"Okay, never mind, just get back here," said Olivia into the phone.

"Why was Katrina in the clinic in the first place?" Hotch asked as she hung up.

"She wanted to donate bone marrow," Olivia said.

"To who?"

Olivia shrugged "Maybe he knows," she replied, gesturing to the interrogation room "Wanna have a run at him?"

"Sure,"

* * *

"Nathaniel and Anastasia, 2014 San Diego Comic Con," Olivia read out the back of the photograph, making sure Nathaniel could see the image as she sat across from him "She looks happy,"

"She was," Nathaniel said.

"Then why'd she run?" asked Olivia, sliding the photo in front of him "She flew to the other side of the country, changed her name, got a new identity, a whole new life," she said "Why?"

"I don't know!" said Nathaniel and his voice started to crack "We were happy, we were perfect, and then suddenly she was gone,"

"Just like that?" asked Olivia.

"Yes, I thought she was dead until I saw her in the paper with her girlfriend," Nathaniel said through gritted teeth "Something about customer satisfaction or whatever,"

"Are you sick, Mr Pierce?" Hotch spoke up for the first time since they'd entered.

"W-what? No, I'm fine," Nathaniel stuttered "Why?"

"Katrina-"

"Anastasia!" he interrupted.

"...Anastasia was having her bone marrow tested at a clinic," said Hotch softly "She was getting ready to donate,"

"She-she was?" he asked, his eyes filling with tears "She was donating?"

"Yes, she was,"

Nathaniel suddenly broke down, his body shaking as he sobbed "Oh my god,"

"Nathaniel, she was donating for you, wasn't she?" Olivia said softly.

Nathaniel nodded "Just after she left, I was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, and I needed a transplant," he said, and Hotch and Olivia looked at each other before he continued "I knew we had the same blood type so I thought, maybe, just maybe she'd be a match for me,"

"That's why you came to New York," Olivia said softly.

"After I saw her picture in the paper, I realized that she just wanted to get away from me," he said "So I was just going to let her get on with her life...and then I was diagnosed,"

"Is that what you were arguing about at the bar?" Hotch asked.

Nathaniel nodded again "I just wanted her to see if she was a match, but she kept saying that this was a rouse, that I wasn't really sick...I begged her, I pleaded with her..." Nathaniel paused before looking at Olivia and whispering "What happened to her?"

Olivia shook her head, her eyes filled with sympathy, and Nathaniel broke again, sobbing harder.

"I hate to say it, but I actually feel sorry for the guy," said Alex as she and Barba watched from outside.

"Poor bastard's abandoned by his girlfriend, is diagnosed with cancer, the love of his life is killed, and now he has no match for a transplant," Barba said, shaking his head "Talk about rough,"

* * *

"Alright guys, there's nothing more we can do until we get those surveys, and we can't get them until the morning," Olivia addressed the group "Go home, get some rest, we'll pick up where we left off tomorrow,"

"That goes for you too," Hotch said to his team and Olivia retreated back to her office.

As she watched the rest of her team and the agents file out of the precinct, she heard a knock on her door "Come in,"

"That's usually my line," Hotch said as he opened the door, then closing it behind him.

"I thought I told you to go home," she said with an amused look on her face, taking her glasses off and twirling them in her hand.

Hotch gave her a small smile as he took a seat across from her "Yeah, but you don't actually have any authority over me,"

"Make a bet?" she raised an eyebrow at him, making his smile grown into a two-dimple one.

"Why are you still here anyway?" he asked her.

Olivia sighed "I have a trial starting next week, a little girl was raped by her uncle," she rubbed her temples "We tried everything to make him plead out, not to let it go to trial but the son-of-a-bitch wants his day in court,"

"Which means the little girl's gonna have to testify," Hotch caught on.

"Yeah," Olivia said.

"Sometimes the simplest cases are the hardest ones," he said, earning a hum of agreement as she looked at her watch.

"You should get outta here," said Olivia "It's late,"

"It's always late," Hotch shrugged "I'll go when you go,"

Olivia glared at him for a moment "Seriously?"

Hotch smiled at her again, making her roll her eyes and put her glass back on as she looked back down at her file. After a few moments, she could make out the movement of him crossing one leg over the other.

Olivia managed to ignore him for five minutes before she huffed in frustration and closed her file "For God's sake!" she cried and took her glasses off "Are you always this annoying?"

Hotch shrugged slightly "Are you always this stubborn?" Olivia rolled her eyes again and stood up, packing the files into her bag "Uh-uh," Hotch stopped her as he stood "The files stay here."

"You've gotta be kidding me," said Olivia as she took the files out of the bag and put them back on her desk "Happy?"

"Not until you're out of the building," Hotch said, opening her office door and waiting for her to exit. Olivia passed him with another roll of her eyes as she switched the light off and locked the door.

"Like you never take files home," Olivia grumbled as he caught up to step with her.

"I have one of the SUV's, you need a lift?" he asked, ignoring her remark "You live in New York which means you don't have a car, and even if you do have a car, I bet you don't drive it to work every day,"

"I can make it home on my own just fine, thank you," she said, pressing the elevator button.

Silence fell over them as he accepted her brush off "You wanna grab a coffee?"

Olivia raised an eyebrow at him "You just forced me out of my office to go home and get some sleep, and now you want to grab caffeine?"

"Sure, why not? I know you won't go to sleep anyway," Hotch shrugged.

"Oh, yeah?" Olivia asked "And how do you know that?"

"I'm a profiler, remember?" he pointed out "That and I saw you leave two files in your bag,"

Olivia eyed him for a moment "Insomniac, huh?"

"Comes with the job," said Hotch a little quieter, but Olivia could tell there was something more there.

"I know a little diner that's open 24 hours," Olivia said, changing the subject, noticing his change in behavior "Has great tea,"

"Okay-wait," he paused as they stepped into the elevator "I'm not keeping you away from your son am I?"

Olivia shook her head "He's with Nick's mother tonight, she offered to take him after Nick told her about our case,"

Hotch nodded in response "He has your smile," he said after a few moments, making her look at him strangely "I saw the photo on your desk,"


	5. Tension and Flashbacks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if the order confuses you but you should get the hang of it.

Everyone could feel it. The tension. And not a good tension. It was cold and awkward and it was making everyone uneasy. They referred to each other as 'Agent' and 'Sergeant'. Never any surnames, never any first names.

Olivia had made it in earlier than everyone else, her office door closed and her blinds shut. She'd eventually come out when the rest of the agents had arrived, but the temperature dropped when their Chief did. Suddenly there were no pleasantries, there was no talking, only working.

No one dared to make a sound.

Nick cleared his throat through the silence as he put down the phone he'd been on "That was Orgen Pharmaceutical Labs, they've got the surveys ready for us,"

Still no one moved until Olivia lifted her head with raised eyebrows "What are you waiting for?" she asked "Take Carisi and go,"

Both detectives had never moved faster in their entire lives.

* * *

"Hey Liv?" Olivia lifted her head at the sound of Fin's voice in her doorway.

"Yeah?"

Fin shut the door behind him before taking a seat across from her "You okay?"

"Fine." she replied, looking back down at her file.

"Liv, I've known you a long time," he said softly "Long enough to know when you're upset and lyin' about it,"

"Fin..."

"Was it that Hotchner guy?" he pressed "Did he do somethin' to you?"

"Fin," she cut him off "I'm fine, Agent Hotchner has nothing to do with anything other than this case,"

Fin stayed silent a moment, knowing she was talking out her ass "You want me to smack him?"

That got a lip twitch out of her "Fin, I love you, but if you go anywhere Agent Hotchner I'll smack _you_ ,"

Fin gave her a little smirk as he raised his hands in surrender and stood up "I don't wanna be on the receiving end of that, so I'mma go now,"

Just before he opened the door, she called out to him "Hey Fin?" he turned to look at her "Thanks,"

Fin just nodded and walked out, giving the cold shoulder to the other leader. He got a smile out of his friend, and that was good enough.

For now.

* * *

"What's goin' on with the Serge?" Carisi asked as they pulled up out the front of Orgen Labs.

"I don't know, Carisi," Nick replied as they climbed out of the car.

"Aren't you worried?" asked Carisi "I mean, it's ten below in the squad room,"

"Of course I'm worried," Nick said as they headed inside, making their way to the front desk "She was my partner, she's my friend," he said "But I know her well enough not to push, otherwise the temperature drops even further,"

Carisi nodded his understanding as they reached the front desk "Welcome to Orgen Labs, how can I help you?" the young, smartly dressed woman behind the desk smiled at them.

"Hey, how you doin'?" Nick asked rhetorically "Detectives Amaro and Carisi, NYPD, we called earlier about the Orgen surveys?"

"Oh, yes," she said and stood up and started to walk around the desk and past them "Follow me,"

As they walked down the glass corridors, they reached a room at the end of the hall. The receptionist opened the door for them, letting them in "All yours," she said and walked away, presumably back to her desk.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Carisi said as they looked at the dozen or so boxes of files on the conference room table.

"They couldn't have gone digital?" Nick grumbled and sighed, pulling his phone out "Fin, yeah it's Nick," he said "We're gonna need some help,"

* * *

"You're joking, right?" Amanda asked as the boxes were wheeled into the squad room.

"This many people actually agreed to do a survey?" Emily asked, grabbing two of the boxes and taking them into the conference room, followed by everyone else doing the same.

"I hate surveys," said Fin, grabbing a pile from inside a box "Not to sound like Munch, but they take all your information and then sell it to the highest bidder,"

"Wow, you _did_ just sound like Munch," Olivia remarked as she walked in to the conference room and sat down next to Fin, taking a pile of her own. The other detectives and agents doing the same thing.

"So what are we looking for?" asked Nick.

"Sort them by gender," Alex said "Then sort by hair color, then eye color, and so on, until we narrow it down to a list of targets,"

"Targets being black or dark brown hair, green eyes, between 5'5" and 5'9", and between 20-30 years old," Emily pointed out.

"Fun," Amanda said sarcastically as they started to sort files.

* * *

_Lips crashed together as he pushed her against her door. Hands running through hair, tongues fusing together. She fumbled with her keys as she tried to put it in the lock without looking._

_Finally managing to open the door, they stumbled through the apartment, never breaking contact. Trying to make their way to the bedroom with her blindly leading the way, they tripped over one another, ending up on the floor, his body over hers._

_Not really caring where they were at the moment, they started pulling at clothing. First his jacket and tie, and then his shirt, leaving him only in pants and shoes. He latched onto her neck as he tried unbuttoning her blouse, only to end up ripping it open because he hadn't been moving fast enough._

_Her shirt fell open against the floor, leaving her lace bra covered breasts exposed as he ran his hands over her toned torso and chest. Both kicking of their shoes on the floor, one of them had the presence of mind to get off the floor and continue towards the bedroom._

* * *

Six hours. It had been six hours since they started sorting files. They'd winnowed out the men and older generation, leaving them all studying hair color and eye color.

"I need coffee," said Amanda, rubbing her eyes lightly and running a hand through her hand "Anyone else?"

After taking numbers and orders, she left the precinct to go to the coffeehouse down the street, needing fresh air. The rest stayed, continuing to look over files.

"I found Katrina," Alex said, frowning slightly at the piece of paper as she studied it.

"What? What is it?" Hotch asked her.

"It's not the original copy," she said, handing it over to him "Someone's photocopied it and taken the original,"

"Are there any others like these?" asked Hotch, looking up at everyone else.

"Not so far," Nick replied.

"Keep looking," Hotch said as he put the copy aside and continued searching "If any other surveys are photocopied, our unsub may have found his next target,"

* * *

_"It was this Darth Vader costume that Garcia's friend made him," his eyes were almost shining as he talked about his son "I had a case, so I wasn't home until the day after Halloween, but he kept it on and slept on the couch just to make sure I saw him in it,"_

_They sat in the cozy diner, sharing stories about their team, their kids. They didn't share specific cases, but fun stories were always welcome._

_"He must've been so uncomfortable," Hotch chuckled as he shook his head at his son._

_Olivia smiled "You'd be amazed at what kids find comfortable,"_

_"His mother died five years ago," he said, the mood darkening a little, but Hotch didn't let it effect his mood much "I'm really lucky to have Jessica there to look after him when I can't be there,"_

_Olivia looked at him with warm eyes and nodded "Did you ever think about resigning?"_

_"I did, for a while," he nodded "I mean, I'd already lost my wife to this job, I wasn't going to lose my son too,"_

_"What changed you mind?"_

_"Jack," he said "I didn't want him growing up thinking that he couldn't be anything he wanted to be, that he couldn't do anything he want to do," he explained._

_"Makes sense," Olivia said "The only thing Noah is not allowed to be is a student at Hudson,"_

_Hotch raised his eyebrows in surprise before letting out a bark of laughter "What? Why?"_

_Olivia rolled her eyes lightly "We have...history,"_

_Hotch nodded "And what if he comes home with a full-ride scholarship?"_

_"Then I'd sell my baby and put a second mortgage on my apartment to pay for another school," Olivia shrugged._

_"Your baby?"_

_"My '65 Mustang," she said, and seeing the look of surprise on his face, she shrugged "Mid-life crisis,"_

_"Ah," Hotch chuckled "You can't sell that,"_

_"Why not?"_

_"Because it's a classic, because the way a look of pride crossed your face I'd say you love that car as much as your son," Hotch explained "And like you said, it's your baby,"_

_"So what was your mid-life crisis?"_

_"A marathon,"_

* * *

"I've got another one," said Olivia, holding it up in the air.

"That makes six, including our first two victims," said Rossi.

"That's four more potential targets and only three hours to find our unsub," Hotch said before addressing Nick "Detective, did Orgen give you a list of employees?"

"Yeah, at that was digitized," he replied, grabbing the laptop and putting it in front of him "I can send them through to your analyst, she'll be quicker,"

Derek had already dialed the number "Baby Girl," he addressed her "We're sending through a list of employees, we need you to narrow it down to fit the profile,"

_"Got it,"_ she said _"Shoot,"_

"Males between 35 and 50," Hotch started.

"He's a power sadist so he probably feels inadequate in his job, so rule out CEO's and scientists," Emily added.

"He's obsessed with death, so look for an employee who's lost a loved one in the last five months," Alex added.

_"Uh, I got six,"_

"Send 'em through,"

* * *

_"You sure you don't want a lift?" asked Hotch as they stepped outside the diner._

_"I'm fine, I don't need protection," Olivia replied._

_"You? Who said anything about you?" Hotch asked "You'll be the one protecting me," he explained, making her smile slightly, trying to stifle her laugh "I mean, I'm a tourist in this big city, people can sense that," he continued "That makes me a target-"_

_"If I say yes, will you stop?" she asked, trying to hide the smile that was threatening to take over._

_"Will you protect me?" he shot back._

_"Fine," Olivia said as they walked back toward the bureau SUV, Hotch jumping ahead to open the passenger door for her "Thank you,"_

_The drive to her apartment was mostly silent, but it wasn't uncomfortable. As he pulled up to the curb, she turned to him "Did you feel safe, Special Agent?"_

_"Absolutely," he replied, never breaking eye contact._

_"Goodnight Agent Hotchner," she said and reached for the handle._

_"You're not leaving me out here alone, are you?" he asked, making her turn back to him with amusement._

_"I think you can manage," she replied._

_"Do I have to point out the whole tourist thing again?" he asked "Because I could be carjacked whilst I wait for you to turn your light on so I know you made it to your apartment," Olivia shook her head at him as he continued "New York is a dangerous place for a single man alone at night-"_

_"Aaron, did you want to walk me up to my apartment?" she cut him off, just to make him shut up._

_"I'd feel much safer, yes," he replied, and smiled widely as she rolled her eyes and got out of the car, trying to ignore the feeling in his stomach at the fact she called him Aaron._

* * *

"Jerry Brauher, 43, dropped out of medical school after his mom was diagnosed with leukemia," Alex said "He's worked as a janitor for Orgen for the past 12 years," she continued "His father died two months ago," she looked up at the rest of them "This is him,"

"How do you know?" Nick asked.

"I can feel it," Alex said, glancing at Hotch who nodded.

"Let's go,"


	6. You're Kidding

"JERRY BRAUHER, FBI!"

BANG!

The door flew open as Morgan kicked it upon breach. Storming the old house, they all split up into pairs, making sure the other's back was covered. As the day approached sunset, the house was dark, making them use flashlights as they swept each room.

A sequence of "Clear!" echoed through the old wooden house, floating from room to room, floor to floor.

"He's not home," said JJ as they all met up on the bottom floor, near the entryway "Which means he's got another girl,"

"We need to check on every one of those potential targets we found," Hotch said.

"We've only got an hour until sundown," Carisi said, looking at his watch "We need to act fast,"

"Do any of you remember the names of the others?" Hotch asked them all "There was a Rebecca..."

"Adler," Emily said "Rebecca Adler,"

"Myra Jennings, Holly Pasel..." Alex joined in, before there was a silence with everyone trying to remember the last name.

"Come on, what's the last name on the list?" Hotch pressed, drawing a blank from most of his team "Reid?"

Reid looked lost "I never saw their names, I never looked at their surveys,"

"Molt!" Olivia snapped her fingers loudly "Stephanie Molt!"

"Morgan-"

"Baby Girl," Derek already had his phone out "We need phone numbers and addresses,"

* * *

_It was early. She knew it before she opened her eyes. And something didn't feel right, either. Maybe it was the extra weight she felt over her waist._

_Oh, no._

_Dread washed over her as her eyes popped open to find someone pressed against her back. Memories came rushing back of the night before. Office. Coffee. Apartment. Sex. Really hot, incredible sex. Incredible sex that never should have happened._

_She could feel his breathing against the back of her neck, and knew he was still asleep. Slowly, Olivia turned her head just far enough to be able to make out his naked torso, half covered by the sheet that covered hers._

_This was bad. This was very bad._

_With as little movemnt as possible, she angled herself to slip out from under his arm and out of her bed. She crept over to her wardrobe, and grabbed a change of clothes without making any sound. After her underwear, she slid on a pair of jeans, and an NYPD sweatshirt._

_Glancing over at the naked agent in her bed, her cheeks started to flush as she remembered the night before in very vivid detail. She shook her head, as if to will the thoughts away, and quietly shoved her work clothes in a gym bag._

_Turning to look at him one more time, she slipped out of the bedroom, and out of her own apartment. Because the best thing for everyone was to forget anything even happened._

* * *

"Holly Pasel still isn't answering," Amanda said from the backseat as it went to voicemail once again.

They'd rang all four potential victims beforehand, all had answered. Except for Holly.

Sirens blared as they sped through the streets of Manhattan, hoping that they'd get there in time. SUV's and squad cars raced towards the apartment that would surely hold a tale of horrors when they'd finally got there.

"ETA?" Olivia asked.

"Seven minutes," Nick replied, dodging through traffic.

Olivia picked up her radio "SVU portable, we need an ambulance at 125 West Broadway," she spoke into the unit "Female may be fatally injured,"

Her knee bounced up and down as they raced towards the apartment building "Come on, Holly, hold on," 

* * *

They crashed through the door with very little warning. Shouting 'NYPD' and 'FBI' as they entered, going to clear every room in the apartment.

"Holly Pasel?" Olivia asked as she headed straight for the bedroom, Hotch in tow. She kicked open the door, to see Jerry trying to escape out the window and Holly tied up on the floor next to the bed.

"STOP FBI!" Hotch yelled and took off after him down the fire escape as Olivia holstered her gun and went straight to Holly.

"I need a medic!" she screamed out to everyone, hoping the medics would be here by now.

Holly was crying, but couldn't move a muscle. Olivia grabbed the pair of pliers from Jerry's 'tool kit' and cut the wire, letting her neck and ankles go before moving onto her wrists.

"Holly, my name is Olivia Benson, you're gonna be okay," she said, laying her out flat on the ground "I'm gonna roll you over so the paramedics can take a look at you, okay?" Holly's eyes were wide, but she somehow managed to make a gurgling noise which told Olivia that she'd heard her "Okay, on three I'm going to roll you," she said, positioning herself as she counted "One, two, three,"

Just as Holly was laid on her back, the medics came rushing in, Fin in tow. Most of the group had taken off to chase Brauher, but Fin and a couple of the others stayed behind "She's been hit with a paralytic," Olivia tried to explain "I don't know what her injuries are yet or how long ago she was injected,"

"Thank you," one of the paramedics looked at her and nodded "We got her,"

Olivia nodded back and the medics lifted her onto a gurney and rushed her out of the apartment.

* * *

"STOP, POLICE!" Nick yelled as he caught sight of Jerry Brauher and Hotch chasing after him. The pair ran after him down the block, yelling for him to stop.

They ended up circling the building, running behind the apartments as Amanda jumped down from nowhere, landing on his back.

Jerry grunted at the impact and fell face first onto the ground, but managed to push her off and scramble to his feet, the three in tow. As he rounded the second corner, heading towards the front of the building again, he almost ran straight into Morgan, only to drop and roll past him.

"This guys fast for his size," Morgan muttered into the comms.

"Just keep running," Hotch said as he sped past him, just feet behind Jerry.

But went to round the corner again, Emily appeared and spun, round-housing him straight in the face, knocking him to his back. The four officers stopped chasing and looked at her, wide-eyed "What?" she asked, only to have Amanda start laughing.

Jerry groaned as he moved his head from side to side, his eyes closed in pain "C'mon Jer," Morgan said, cuffing him and getting him to his feet "That's nothin' compared to what's comin' to you in prison," he smirked before taking him towards the squad car.

Amanda smirked at Emily, putting a hand on her shoulder as she walked past, leaving Hotch and Nick.

"You been practicing?" asked Hotch, a faint smile twitching at his mouth.

Emily shrugged "Keeps you in shape, you should try it," the jibed.

"Ouch," Hotch actually smiled at that and started to walk past her "Nice job, Prentiss,"

"That was...impressive," Nick said as they started walking towards the cars.

"Thanks," she said, smiling slightly at him.

* * *

_The temperature was hot. They were both sweaty. Their bodies moved in sync with one another as their mouths fused together. Breaking away for air, she threw her head back, closing her eyes as she rode atop him. He sat up against the headboard, his mouth against her neck, sucking, licking._

_She knew she was going to have to berate him for leaving marks later, but now her mind wasn't thinking about anything other than the man underneath her, inside of her._

_She clutched at the headboard behind him, digging her nails into the wood as he tangled a hand in her hair, forcing her to look him in the eye whilst the other clutched at her hip._

_Suddenly, she let out a yelp as he flipped them, crashing his mouth hard onto hers._

* * *

"Y'know Jerry," said Alex, flicking through the files "You've been a very bad boy,"

Barba smirked next to her "And you're going away for a long time,"

Jerry didn't say anything, just stared at his own reflection in the mirror.

Alex looked at Barba, who shrugged "Why?" she asked Jerry as she cocked her head to the side "Why do make them look at you in the mirror?"

Jerry turned his head to look at her directly, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up "To show them what I'm capable of," he growled with a predatory smile.

"Really?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow at him "Do you like dead people, Mr Baruher?"

Rafael looked across at her, not really knowing where she was going with this line of questioning "Dead people?" Jerry asked, leaning back again.

"Yeah, the ones without a pulse, that turn you on?" she asked nonchalantly.

"No!" he yelled, trying to stand, only to have his full shackles restrain him. She felt Barba shift closer and lean forward, as if he was trying to shield her.

"Well, it seems you can only get it up when they can't move, when their muscles are blocked, their pulse is weak, they can't talk, they can't fight..." she leaned forward and lowered her voice as she spoke "How old were you when your mother died?"

"You leave her out of this!" he yelled, pulling against the restraints again.

"You found her, right?" Alex asked "Dead in her own bed," she saw Jerry grinding his teeth, his eyes darkening "Did that turn you on? Is that how you found out about your little...fetish?"

"You shut-up! YOU SHUT UP!" Jerry tried leaping forward, only for Alex to grab the back of his head and slamming it on the table, making him fall to the ground, his wrists still attached to the table.

Alex stood up calmly and walked around to him, crouching next to him "You're right, though, they did see what you're capable of," she said quietly "But now you're going to prison, and you'll never see the light of day again,"

"It doesn't matter," he spit up at her "I'll be a God,"

"You'll be in solitary," Barba joined in, making Alex's smile grow.

"The only person who'll know what you can do," she started, leaning in a little closer "is the little voice in your head that'll make you want to bang it against the wall over and over and over again until your brain swells so much you die,"

Jerry growled, pulling at the restraints again as she stood up and headed out the door, Barba in tow.

"That was badass," said Morgan, sticking his fist out for her to bump.

"I do take pride," she replied, connecting her fist with his.

"He's going away for a long time," said Barba "But the one thing I don't get is the timeline, why sunrise? Why sunset?"

"Turns out, those are the times his parents died. His mother at sunset, father at sunrise," Rossi said "His mother made his drop out of med school, took him for granted, made him a nobody,"

"His rage is toward her," Barba nodded.

"Well I, for one, could definitely use a drink after a day like today," Emily said.

"Yeah, me too," JJ said as they turned to Hotch for permission.

"We leave tomorrow morning," Hotch replied, giving a small shrug "I wouldn't mind one myself,"

Emily high-fived her best friend as they joined the rest out in the squad room "Anyone know any good bars around here?" Morgan asked.

"O'Reilly's," Nick said, swinging in his chair "It's basically a cop bar, we're loved there,"

"No, you're loved by that cute bartender," Fin smirked as he threw a bunched up piece of paper at him from his desk.

"You mean the cute bartender that has a crush on Liv?" Amanda asked, walking up to her desk.

Fin shook his head "No way,"

"Tall, blonde, nice boobs," Amanda continued.

"Yeah, has a thing for Nick," Fin said.

Amanda shook her head "Not a chance, she's got it bad for the Serge,"

"Why not both?" Carisi asked "I mean, Nick's not unattractive, and I can definitely understand the Serge, maybe she wants them both,"

"If I didn't have a gamblin' problem, I'd bet against you right now," Amanda smirked just as Olivia walked out her office.

"That was Dr Beresford," she announced making Hotch prickle at the name "Holly's doing fine, they managed to reverse the effects of the paralytic and with exception to the cuts around her wrists, ankles and neck, there were no severe injuries," she informed them "She should be out of the hospital in a day or two,"

The rest of them nodded "Hey, Serge, we're all headed out for a drink, you want to come?" Carisi asked her.

"I can't," she said "I've got trial prep,"

"Liv," Fin said "We just got one of the most disturbing sickos off the street and we saved a girls life,"

"If there was any night to take a break, it's tonight," Amanda said.

Olivia considered it for a moment before asking "O'Reilly's?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There'll be more Alex/Barba in the next one I promise!!


	7. Regrets

The bar wasn't loud, but it wasn't quiet either. There was music playing in the background with people chatting away. Nothing different than usual.

"You come here often?" Alex asked Barba as they walked through the door.

Barba leaned in a lowered his voice seductively "Was that a pick-up line?"

Alex rolled her eyes with a small smirk "No, it was a genuine question,"

"I don't think it was," he said quietly as he walked behind her, his breath tickling her neck "But, yes, we do come here quite often," he responded seriously.

"Seems like a cop bar," Emily said and looked over at Nick "Is everyone in here a cop?"

"Not everyone," Nick said shrugging before pointing to the blonde woman behind the bar "She's a bartender I think,"

Emily smacked him on the arm and tried not to smile, failing miserably, making him smile back "Y'know, Detective Tutuola's right,"

"About?"

"You're hot friend over there," Emily motioned to the blonde "She just smiled at you,"

"So? She smiles at everyone," he said, taking a seat in the booth with the rest of them.

Emily leaned in so the rest couldn't hear "A girl only smiles at someone like that for one reason,"

Before Nick could respond, Fin clapped his hands loudly "First round's on me!"

After taking everyone's orders, he left for the bar, Olivia following, saying he needed help with them all "You gonna tell me what's goin' on with you and Hotchner?"

Olivia shook her head "Nothing's going-"

"Liv," he gave her a look, telling her that he knows she's full of shit.

She sighed and leaned against the bar "We slept together," she said.

Fin's eyebrows rose on his forehead "You..." he trailed off "Did he force you? Did he make you-"

"Fin, no one can make me do anything I don't want to do," she said "I was as willing as he was,"

He nodded and lent against the bar "So what's the problem? Why is everything so frosty?"

Olivia shrugged sheepishly "I may have left him in my apartment this morning,"

"Liv..." Fin shook his head "You can't do that to a guy,"

"I know, I know," said Liv, burying her hands in her face "I just..." she shook her head, trailing off, not being able to explain.

Fin sighed and put a hand on her back "You gotta talk to him,"

Olivia nodded as their drinks came back, knowing she couldn't just let him leave without explaining. At least that's what she shouldn't do. But she could try.

As they carried the drinks back to the table, they all expressed their thanks to Fin "Eh, it's the least I could do for bein' an ass yesterday,"

"Don't worry, we get that reaction a lot," Rossi said.

"You guys ain't so bad," said Fin, lifting his beer in the air "We did a hell of a job today,"

"Cheers," Morgan said, holding up his own beer and tapping it against Fin's.

"Cheers!" the rest of them toasted, clinking their bottles and glasses together.

"So where to next?" Nick asked them.

"Hopefully home," Reid said "If I don't get at least a week before we have to fly out again, I'll quit,"

Rossi snorted "That'll save 'em money," he said sarcastically.

The others laughed as Morgan ruffled Reid hair "Don't worry Pretty Boy, maybe we can find you a lady tonight,"

"Morgan, don't you dare," Reid shook his head.

"Derek, leave him alone," JJ rolled her eyes from the other side of Reid, linking her arm through the younger profiler "Don't worry Spence, I'll protect you,"

Olivia sat across from Hotch enjoying the banter that traveled across the booth. Hotch kept glancing at her, making her shift in her seat as her cheeks started to flush. She quickly polished off her wine and went up to the bar, excusing herself.

Hotch quickly followed, standing next to her but not saying anything as he looked at her.

"Stop looking at me like that," Olivia hissed quietly.

"Like what?" he asked.

Olivia glared at him "Like you've seen me naked,"

"I _have_ seen you naked," he said just before the cute blonde came back over. She smiled at Olivia, leaning forward on her elbows, pushing her cleavage up her shirt.

"Hey, Olivia," she said "What can I get'cha?"

"Scotch, thanks Carrie," Olivia smiled back slightly "Make it a double,"

"You got it," Carrie winked and turned away to get her the drink.

"Wow, Detective Rollins was right," said Hotch, leaning in closer.

"About what?" she asked, looking at him, his face only a foot or so away.

"She does have the hots for you," Hotch smirked, making Olivia roll her eyes.

"Here you are, Liv," Carrie caught her attention, sliding the glass over on the napkin before Olivia slid over a $20.

"Thanks, Carrie," Liv smiled at her and turned to Hotch "You need to stop looking at me that way,"

"How do you suppose I do that?" Hotch asked "Any way I look at you, that's all you're gonna think of,"

"Then don't look at me," Olivia said, taking a sip from her scotch.

"I can't look at you, at all?" Hotch asked, his eyebrows raising.

"Not if you keep looking at me like that!" she shot back.

"What? No!" Hotch replied "I can't not look at you, that's..." he trailed off, shaking his head "Fine. Just tell me why,"

"Why what?"

"Why run?" he asked "You ran from your own bed, your own apartment," he said, making gestured with his hands "There was no note, no nothing, you were just gone,"

"It's complicated, Hotch," she replied, looking down at her glass as she shook her head.

Hotch paused, realizing that she'd called him Hotch and not Aaron "Then explain it to me,"

"I can't!" she exclaimed.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't know why!" she said, silencing him "I don't know why I did what I did, I don't know why I did what I did with you..."

"You regret it," Hotch said, dropping his head "You regret us,"

"There is no _us_ , Aaron," said Olivia, furrowing her eyebrows, making him swallow as his heart dropped in his chest "You fly off back to D.C. tomorrow morning and chances are that we'll never see each other again,"

"New York is a two hour train ride," said Hotch "It's not like I'm going back to California!"

"It doesn't matter!" Olivia said, shaking her head "I work eighty hours a week, more even, and you're hardly ever in your own home, how are we ever expected to see each other?" she asked "When another one of these sick bastards come along and we need your help again?"

"It wouldn't be like that," Hotch replied, trying to make her see his point of it.

"Oh yeah?" asked Olivia "Then why'd you break up with your ex-girlfriend?"

Hotch just felt like he'd been punched in the stomach as he watched her turn to walk away, only to turn back for a moment "Don't look at me like that," she said "Don't look at me at all if you have to," and with that, she walked back to the large booth, leaving him at the bar.

"Tough break, buddy," he heard Carrie say as she was wiping over the bar "At least she wanted you," she said, and walked to a customer over the other end of the bar.

* * *

"Gil and Zara," said Nick, showing her a photo as they walked down the empty footpath of the street "They both live in California, but I see them when I can,"

"They're adorable," Emily replied, smiling "They look exactly like you,"

Nick smiled and put his phone away as they kept walking "What about you? You have any kids?"

"Uh, no." Emily shook her head "I kind of gave up that dream a long time ago,"

"Why?"

Emily shrugged "I got in with some bad people, I didn't always work for the FBI," she explained "Undercover changes you,"

"I know," said Nick, both looking straight ahead as they walked "That's how I got Gil, actually,"

Emily looked at him and nodded. She'd gone in deep. She fell in love with someone she definitely shouldn't have. She loved a little boy that should have never been caught in the cross fire.

"So how did you learn how to kick ass like that?" asked Nick, noting the change in mood.

Emily chuckled "Mixed Martial Arts," she replied "I had a lot of free time on my hands for a while, thought it couldn't hurt,"

"No, it could not," Nick replied, making her laugh again "It was pretty badass, actually,"

"That's the goal isn't it?" Emily asked rhetorically "Kick ass and look good doing it?"

Nick chuckled "I'd say that's a pretty great goal," he said "One you reach quite easily, might I add,"

Emily looked across at him, they were the same height and licked her bottom lip "Thanks," she said quietly.

"What's the deal with your boss?" asked Nick "Should I be worried for my CO?"

"Should I be worried for mine?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nick asked as he stopped walking and turned to face her, making Emily do the same.

"Nothing," Emily said, shaking her head slightly "Hotch is a good guy, and as much as you think your Sergeant has been through, I can guarantee, Hotch has been through just as much,"

Nick looked at her "So that's why she's been cold, because he's a good guy," he said sarcastically and nodded "Right,"

"You know, for all we know," Emily started, getting a little impatient "Your sergeant may have been the one to hurt _him_ ,"

"Liv's not like that," Nick shook his head.

"How do you know?" Emily asked, her eyebrows raising.

"Because she was my partner, I would know!"

"Partners don't always know each other as well as they think," said Emily, shaking her head slowly.

"Like yours?"

Emily froze. She didn't know how he knew, but he knew. Nick went to open his mouth to apologize, when she turned and walked away up the street.

"Wait, Emily, I'm sorry," he chased after her, staying a few feet behind her "Emily,"

She didn't turn or stop, she just kept walking "Don't bother," she said "Go back to your boss, Nick, I'm a big girl,"

"No, Emily," he said and jogged a few steps to get in front of her, grabbing her biceps to stop her on the sidewalk "Please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, I'm sure whatever happened-"

"I died," she cut him off, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion "A ghost from my past came back to haunt me and I died," she said and watched his eyes go wide "Think I'm still badass, Detective?"

"I..." he trailed off, and she could feel his fingers loosen around her arms.

"Yeah," she said and slipped from his grasp, taking off walking up the sidewalk again.

Nick shook himself out of his trance and ran up to her again "I'm sorry, for what happened to you, for what I said, for how I reacted..." he stopped in front of her "But the fact that you're here right now proves how strong you are," he said "If you want me to leave you the hell alone then I'll go, and you'll never see me again, but until you do, I'm not going anywhere,"

Emily looked at him for a moment, seeing the sincerity in his eyes, before leaning forward and pressing her lips against his. It was soft, and short, but feeling him freeze, she pulled back suddenly "I-I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking-"

He cut her off, his lips claiming hers as he stepped closer, pulling her by the nape of her neck. As the kiss deepened, she held onto his tie and granted his tongue entrance.

He walked her back up against the wall, pinning her against it with his body. He moved his hands from her neck to the brick wall behind them and her waist. She slid her leg up his thigh and wrapped it around him, making her smile when he moaned involuntarily.

"Don't get too cocky," he warned and trailed his hand down from her hip to her ass, returning the smile back to her when she gasped softly.

* * *

"Y'know, Suspenders, you're not actually that bad," Alex said to Rafael as they were the last ones in the booth. The rest of both teams had left for their respective rooms for the night, which left these two sitting on the corner of the table.

"Gee thanks," he rolled his eyes, then smirked slightly "You're not too bad yourself,"

"It's just too bad I never got to see you in the courtroom," she replied "You could annoy people into a guilty verdict,"

"And she's back," said Rafael, shaking his head "Do you ever get tired of the sound of your own voice?"

"No, I can't say that I do," said Alex, shrugging "But between the two of us, I'm pretty sure I'm the one that knows when to keep my mouth shut,"

"Mhm," Rafael nodded "I bet,"

"Do you always wear that many layers of clothing?" asked Alex, gesturing to his three piece suit.

"Yes,"

"Why?'

"Because I look good,"

"Seems exhausting," Alex shrugged, taking a sip of her drink.

"You always have to have the last word, don't you?" Rafael asked, shaking his head slightly.

"Not always,"

"See?" Rafael said "You just did it," Alex smirked and lent forward on her elbows, stirring her rink with the straw "Y'know, that little show in the interrogation room was extremely hot, I'm not gonna lie,"

"Is that right?" Alex asked, taking another sip of her drink.

Rafael nodded "Especially when you bent down in his face, I was so turned on,"

Alex polished off her drink and slammed it down on the table before looking at him " _Was?_ "

* * *

"Come back to bed," Nick groaned as he felt her slip out of bed, trying to feel for her without opening his eyes.

Emily turned and looked at him and smiled. She bent down, stilling his hands with hers and pressed her lips to his, making him moan.

Emily smiled again "I'll be back," she put slipped on Nick's shirt and padded out to the kitchen, grabbing herself a glass of water. She sighed. This was bad. What was she doing? She lived in a different state for God's sake! But she hadn't been out with a decent guy in a long time, so she may as well enjoy it while it lasted.

She walked back into the bedroom and smiled at the man sleeping on his stomach, arms stretched out to the side. She slid down next to him and kissed him on his back before using his outstretched arm as a neck rest, looking at his peaceful face.

"This'll never work," she whispered to him, kissing his shoulder blade.

"We'll make it work," he mumbled in sleep before shifting to lie on his side, pulling her closer as his arm slid up under her shirt and rest on her back.

* * *

He tossed and turned in his bed. This wasn't right. She couldn't just shut him out like this. They were incredible together and he knew it. Before he knew what he was doing, he'd jumped out of his bed, gotten dressed in dark jeans and an FBI sweatshirt and he was knocking on her apartment door.

"Aaron," she said as she opened the door, looking at her watch "It's late, what are you doing here?"

"We can make this work, I know we can," Hotch said quickly "I know you may think that I'm just this guy who leaves his son every other week to catch unsubs but I'm there as much as I can be, just like you,"

"Aaron..."

"No, Olivia," he said, stepping closer "I've regretted many things in my entire life; letting my son eat chocolate half an hour before his bedtime, riding a horse naked through times square, my haircut in high school..." he shuddered at the thought "But I never regretted you,"

Olivia averted her gaze "I like you Olivia," he shook his head, waiting until she looked at him again before he continued "It's kid of ridiculous how much so, and I want to try,"

"You shouldn't," she shook her head, looking at the floor.

"Shouldn't what? Like you?" Hotch raised his eyebrows "Olivia, there's a reason Beresford wants to have coffee with you, there's a reason Carrie leaves her cleavage on display for you and there's a reason I came here - because there is so much to like about you Olivia, it's not even funny,"

Olivia finally looked up at him and sighed slightly "I'm so messed up,"

Hotch let out a huff that consisted of half relief-half laughter "So am I," he shook his head lightly "If you don't slam the door in my face in the next three seconds I'm going to kiss you,"

Olivia gave him a lopsided grin and pulled him in for a kiss by the sides of his head. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer and they stood there just kissing for several moments before Olivia pulled back suddenly.

"Carrie had her cleavage out for me?" she teased and tried to sidestep him "Maybe I should go back down to her and-"

He cut her off, spinning her around and pinning her against the door frame, making her yelp with a surprise laugh as he crashed his lips against hers.

"Should I be worried?" he asked as he bit her bottom lip, tugging on it slightly before letting it go.

"Maybe," Olivia husked, reaching up under his sweatshirt and ran her nails over his chest "I mean, she does have such an impressive chest,"

And with that, Hotch picked her up from the doorway and closed it behind them before heading toward the bedroom "She's got nothing on you," he growled back.

* * *

She slammed him against the door just as it closed. The hotel was closer than his apartment, so that was the better option. She pulled at his tie, trying to undo it whilst she pulled him closer.

Once she finally got it off, she threw it across the room, then started on his jacket and vest "You wear too many god damn clothes," he growled against his lips.

"Yeah, but I look good," he replied, helping her with his suspenders and shirt. Soon his chest was bare and his suspenders hung at his sides, and she reached for his belt, making him still her hands.

When she looked at him quizzically, he rid her of her jacket and pulled her blouse over her head, revealing a black and red lace bra. He reached for her slacks, managing to pull them down her thighs before she stepped out of them, revealing matching underwear.

"For me?" he husked, attaching his lips to her neck, roaming his hands all over her body, grinding against her.

She undid his belt and unzipped his pants, making them fall to the floor before she slipped her hand in his briefs. He jumped slightly at the contact and looked up at her, making her smirk "For me?"

**Author's Note:**

> REVIEW!


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